Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake Series: Bright Falls Book 1
Published by Penguin on February 22, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / General, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Source: Bookstore
A clever and steamy queer romantic comedy about taking chances and accepting love—with all its complications—from the author of Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail.
Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her.
When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there’s some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.
Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they’ve known each other for years, they don’t really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they’re forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn’t sure she has the strength to resist Delilah’s charms. Even worse, she’s starting to think she doesn’t want to...
My Review
This book was so much more than I expected and I absolutely loved this story. To me I found it read like a movie I was easily able to picture everything in my mind. In my opinion, this story is at its core about worthiness, friendship, resilience, forgiveness, second chances, trust, belonging, and family with of course a romance. I also must note that there is some struggle with mental health within the story which I thought the author did an excellent job writing about.
So the kick-ass-looking woman on the cover of the book is called Delilah and wow does her story really tug at the heartstrings. The struggle that Delilah had to deal with losing both parents is hard enough on its own but then being left with the dreadful stepmother who didn’t even tolerate her was a whole other thing. As I said there is a fair bit in here about mental health and this is the reason for it. Delilah eventually put up the facade of not giving a shit about anything as the title suggests. She got through her struggles by getting out of her home as soon as she graduated from high school. She took off for New York City to try and make a go of her photography. The way that she handled herself in New York is just so sad to me. She constantly had mindless sex with multiple women and never allowed herself to feel anything for them beyond what a one-night stand could offer. Delilah closed herself off from love and relationships and really it is no wonder when you look at where she came from and maybe a little something else which I am not going to say due to spoilers.
I also felt for Astrid in this story who happens to be Delilah’s stepsister. Astrid is a character who has also experienced loss with the death of her father and then again the death of her stepfather. However, it must be said that she also experienced the loss of her stepsister Delilah. She had so hoped that once her mother had married Delilah’s dad that they would all become a big happy family but sadly that did not happen. Once Delilah’s father passed away she basically went into herself and sadly this was helped along with the home that she resided in. Astrid’s character is one that is always in control and would always do as her mother asked even at the expense of her own happiness. She did however have an amazing friend group with Claire and Iris which helped to keep her sane in the midst of it all when it came to her mom and Delilah.
It is when Astrid gets engaged and hires Delilah to do her photos for the wedding that everything begins to make sense for both of the sisters. The way that the mother only cared about appearances, the reason why Delilah never engaged, and even why Astrid and her friends never hung out with Delilah. Once Delilah returns home we begin to get a good look at the friend group, Claire and Iris. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters as well and I loved the fact that Claire is a super curvy mom and bookstore owner. I think that these characters all contributed to the story in a positive way and I am eager to read the next book in the series. Oh, I also have to say that this book has one of the funniest scenes I have ever read. I was laughing so hard that I actually had tears running down my face. I even read it to my husband who also burst out laughing. I am not going to say what it is but it does involve camping, cayenne pepper, and some underwear. It truly is one of my favorite things in the story.
I also want to point out one of my favorite passages in the book and it can be found on page 96. It is a conversation Delilah is having with Claire’s daughter Ruby and it reads like this:
“It’s a storm in a teacup”. “It’s an old phrase. It means…making a big deal out of something small. I got it to remind myself to have some perspective. That, most times, things aren’t as devastating as they might feel at first”.
Potential Trigger Warnings:
- Heartbreak
- Death of a parent
- Parental neglect